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Joel Madden
Joel Rueben Madden was born Joel Ryan Combs on March 11th, 1979 in Waldorf, Maryland. He is an American singer, record producer, actor, DJ and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, but is best known for his role in Good Charlotte. Joel is the identical twin brother to Benji Madden. He is the younger twin by five minutes. He is also the younger brother of Josh Madden and the older brother to Sarah Madden. He attended La Plata High School in La Plata, Maryland. In 1995, Joel attended the Beastie Boys Ill Communication Tour with Benji. The two started their own band with a friend. The band was short lived and the Maddens eventually recruited fellow high schoolers Paul Thomas and Aaron Escolopio to form Good Charlotte. When Joel and his siblings were of age, they changed their last name from their father's, Combs, to their mother's maiden name, Madden, to distance themselves from their father. School Joel and Benji barely finished school and did not go to college or university. They had wanted to drop out of school and devote all their time to Good Charlotte, but they struggled on for their mother's wish for them to finish. In 1997, Joel found out that he wasn't going to graduate. He took a night class "with all the pregnant girls," Joel says, to get his credits. He succeeded in graduating when he was supposed to. Early Life Joel was born in 1979 to Robin Madden and Roger Combs just outside of Washington, D.C., in the suburb of Waldorf, Maryland. Robin was a devout Christian. The twins grew up in a strictly Christian household. Josh had introduced them to rock bands like Rancid and Social Distortion, but in the beginning, their mother was very strict about 'punk' music and had restricted her children to Christian music. Once, after finding a poster of a punk band on their bedroom wall, Benji and Joel's mom quicky tore it down. and her four kids were stricken by the fact that Roger was a heavy alcoholic and couldn't keep a steady job. He worked all sorts of various jobs, including work as a butcher and a housepainter. Though he worked daily and was an avid drinker, he still took the kids out for fun activities such as fishing on weekends. Their mother worked at home, slaving away and trying to keep things as organized as possible. Money was always a problem for them, but on Christmas of 1995, everything fell apart. On Christmas Eve, their father pretended to "go to the store" and just left. The family went through major financial issues. Unable to pay the bills, they were soon evicted from their home and left on the streets. They had stayed in an old shack on neighbors' property, and after a while of being forced to live with nearby relatives, they eventually moved into a small farmhouse, but their mother Robin suffered from the autoimmune disease, Lupus, resulting in frequent hospital stays. When she was not in the hospital, she worked as a receptionist and a haristylist. Joel and Benji were forced to work at a series of jobs, such as restaurant busboys and shampoo assistants at a local salon to help the family stay afloat. On top of normal teenage concerns, they worried about things like the electiricty and phone lines getting cut off or the car breaking down. "When my dad left, I was always the one that was kind of, like, crying about it, like, 'Why us, why us?'" Joel told Rolling Stone in 2003. "Lucky for me, I had Benj. We've always been sidekicks." Other Projects In the 2001 film Not Another Teen Movie, Joel and the other Good Charlotte members made a cameo as the band at the school's prom. He later had a cameo role in the 2004 film Fat Albert and in the 2006 film Material Girls with Benji. He also had a guest appearance in the popular kids' show The Naked Brothers Band, in which he joined the band for a performance. Madden started a clothing line called MADE Clothing with his brothers Benji and Josh. The line is now defunct. In early 2006, MADE Clothing became DCMA Collective. The line is owned by himself, his brothers Benji and Josh, and their friend Tal Cooperman. The Madden brothers also front a production team called Dead Executives. In November 2007, he and Nicole Richie created The Richie-Madden Children's Foundation. The charity will create and promote an online registry to inspire the purchases of items for moms and their families in need. He is also a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador. In 2010, with his brother, Madden contributed to "We Are the World 25 for Haiti", a remake of the song "We Are the World" by USA for Africa, written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie. On March 7th, 2010, he was a DJ for the 2010 Academy Awards. He was brought in as a DJ to 'fill the void' in between presenters and other produced parts of the show. The organizers of the Awards felt that there was too much lull in the show and wanted a DJ to play music to 'keep the energy in the building.' He was also a judge for the 10th annual Independent Music Awards to support independent artists' careers. On November 11th, 2011 he and Benji released a free mixtape called "Before the Fame: The Madden Brothers - Before Volume 1". It contains new artists the brothers were personally interested in. Their brother Josh Madden helped to produce the mixtape. In November 2011, it was confirmed that he will be a coach on the Australian version of The Voice. He will be living in Australia while filming the show along with his family. They plan on staying in Sydney for a while, not just during the show. In December 2011, it was announced that Joel and Benji are recording an acoustic album of some of Good Charlotte's older songs, which will be released somewhere in 2012. Personal Life In July 2004, Madden began dating teen idol Hilary Duff when she was 17 and he was 25. After a long period of tabloid speculation, Hilary's mother Susan announced their relationship in a June 2005 interview for Seventeen magazine. In November 2006, Joel and Hilary broke up. He started dating Nicole Richie in December 2006. Just three months later--in the midst of her DUI trial--Richie was pregnant. They now have two children: daughter Harlow Winter Kate Richie Madden (born January 11th, 2008) and son Sparrow James Midnight Madden (born September 9th, 2009). The couple confirmed their engagement in February 2010, and married on December 11th, 2010. Twins When Joel and Benji were kids, they had very similar voices. Sometimes, their mother still can't tell their voices apart. "We were on our way to our grandma's house and Joel talked back to my mom," Benji says. "Mom pulled the car over and gave--and spanked me." Joel continues with a smirk, "I believe she took her flip-flop off." Benji recalls, "And just spanked the crap out of me with that flip-flop." One time, Joel didn't have the nerve to ask a girl to a dance, so he got Benji to call her for him. "She still said no," says Benji with a laugh. Joel continues, "With a quickness, she said no." Benji jokes, "That was a short phone call." as Joel says, "She didn't even say 'no', she said 'neh'. Like, 'neh'. She didn't give--she didn't even give you the dignity of the 'O'." On a ROVE Live interview, Joel and Benji informed the audience of the many myths that exist about twins. Joel starts out with, "There is no evil twin. Many of us are both very nice. If one twin is bad, it's because their an asshole, just like anyone else... Possibly you." Benji continues, "We don't have psycic links. If you pinch me, Joel won't feel a thing. But, I will. So, please, stop pinching me." Joel adds on, "We don't finish each others' sentences. That's just--" as Benji continues, "Crazy talk." Benji jokes, "We're not always swapping identities to play tricks on people. You can always trust me when I tell you I'm Joel." Joel plays along, correcting, "Benji." and Benji simply shakes his head and says, "I meant Benji. It could happen to anyone." Joel pitches in saying, "We don't have special rings that enable us to turn into an eagle or... a bucket of water." Benji agrees, and says, "That'd be cool, though... as long as I was the eagle." Joel nods, saying, "Yeah, a bucket of water--". And they speak together for the rest of the sentences, --"blows. Whoa, that was wierd. Stop!" Joel jokes, "Dude, I'm gonna kill you!" and Benji slaps himself as Joel yells, "Ow!" The audience definitely enjoyed the jokes. Benji finishes off with, "So, spare a thought, and another just like it, for twins everywhere. Embrace the similar. Except for triplets... Those guys are freaks!"